1933 Time Capsule Message in a Bottle Unearthed at Oklahoma State Capitol

A Stately Time Capsule

Sometimes, a message in a bottle story appears, and no one seems to notice it, and it fades into history. It boggles my mind, but this 84 year old message in a bottle has attracted practically no attention. And it’s not just a message in a bottle–it’s a time capsule!

Personally, I find land-based messages in bottles super interesting! Like–why not just use a box or something, since the time capsule doesn’t have to float? Maybe they were preparing for mega floods? What inspired these people to seal messages in bottles and hide them decades ago?

No one knows really why it was placed, or by whom. But here it is. It reminds me of another message in a bottle time capsule I reported on that was found in Scotland. This one “reunited” a pair of sisters with their deceased father.

A Snapshot of 1933

At the least, I can give you some context for the known world of 1933. Here’s what was going on: US Prohibition was repealed; Albert Einstein moved to America (actually, he was visiting America and decided to stay once he heard Hitler had assumed leadership of Germany); Hitler became Chancellor of Germany and opened the Dachau concentration camp in addition to announcing plans for the Volkswagen (or “people’s car”); the dust bowl ravaged America; unemployment reached its highest level of the Great Depression; the film King Kong premiered; and the US got its first drive-in movie theater.

Also a crazy number of famous people were born in 1933. Gene Wilder, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Lou Rawls, Caroll Spinney (aka Big Bird of Sesame Street), Jayne Mansfield, Nina Simone, Quincy Jones, Carol Burnett, Yoko Ono, Michael Caine, James Brown, Willie Nelson, and a lot more. Of course, they were all just little babies in 1933. I’m just saying–it was an auspicious year to be born, though a rough one for adults the world over.

If anyone out there knows anything further about this note or the people listed in it, please comment!

Without further ado, here is Adam Maxey’s story, as it appeared recently in The Oklahoma 100:

A note dated 9/21/1933 was recently found underneath the south granite stairs during the Oklahoma State Capitol building renovations. Photo: Adam Maxey / Jones PR / The Oklahoma 100

Last month, a note dated September 21, 1933, was found during ongoing renovations at the Oklahoma State Capitol. The note, scribbled on an envelope from the Game and Fish Department, listed names of individuals and stated, “The above worked in this place on above date.”

Governor William H. Murray’s name adorned the letter, although not written by his own hand (noted below his name), followed by others who joined him that day.

There was work being done to the capitol at the time, but no one is certain of what brought these men to that particular part of the building.